We are almost through week 1 of our elimination diet. We (Cora and I) are eliminating foods that are potentially interfering with our/her digestion, making her unable to absorb nutrients properly and weakening her teeth. This is part of our strategy for healing the enamel on her top four teeth. Read the post I wrote about Cora’s teeth if you missed it.
This week has been tough! I am used to snacking throughout the day, but all of my snack foods are off limits! This has meant more regular meal times (I know, wah wah) and subsequently headaches from hunger and then headaches from the spike in blood sugar (or possibly from my body producing ketones to turn fat into energy since I’m not eating much in the way of carbs).
I have ordered a blood glucose monitor to use during this diet. My dad has diabetes (induced as a kid when he was sick with pneumonia and a bad fever) and now that I’m recording every response my body makes to food, I’m curious. I have a feeling I’m going to learn a lot more about my digestion (and hopefully Cora’s) than just what food(s) I’m sensitive to.
I thought that some of you passing by/finding me through search would like to know exactly how we are going about our plan. We are mostly going off of information gleaned from askdrsears.com, though I searched around a bit to find out what people are most commonly sensitive to and incorporated that information, too. Basically, we are limiting our diet very strictly for one week, and then adding in potentially allergenic foods a little at a time to see how our bodies handle them.
The foods we are avoiding are:
- Wheat/gluten
- Eggs
- Dairy
- Soy
- Tree nuts
- Peanuts/legumes
- Nightshades
- Fish/Shellfish
- Corn
- Food dyes
- Sugar
- Caffeine
Because I couldn’t find any good printable food logs, I created my own. Click the link below the photos to download the .pdf file. You are welcome to use them (please credit if you post them online).
The first page is for laying out your action plan, and the second if for recording the food you eat and any reactions you notice. Print out the second page as many times as you need – each page has space for up to 7 days of records.
I’ll let you all know how the next few weeks go and whether we discover any sensitivities – if I don’t go insane due to withdrawal (oh eggs and peanut butter – I miss you)!
If you’ve come here because you are looking to go on an elimination diet to improve your overall gut health, I’d recommend looking into the GAPS diet. Many bloggers that I read have had good experiences with it and I’m actually waiting for the book to come in so that I can do some more looking at it myself.
Thanks for visiting my blog! I can understand your trouble with the elimination diet! Before we determined exactly what my first child was allergic to, I was avoiding many of the things on your list there and started to experience a lot of different symptoms. I think remembering healthy fats (avocado and coconut for example) plus plenty of protein is key to avoiding many of the symptoms, one of which, for me, was depression. My second son seems to have food allergies as well, but this time I’m taking a more gradual approach, and eliminating one thing at a time to see if it helps. Right now I’m avoiding eggs, peanut and dairy and the eggs and dairy seemed to have made a significant difference. I’m going to pick up some good fat and protein sources though to replace the dairy or I will not get through the day!